baby with swollen head

Baby with swollen head to undergo more surgeries

????????????????????Baby Roona, who had undergone a series of surgeries at a hospital here in few months ago for an oversized head, will undergo follow-up surgeries, doctors at a city hospital said on Saturday.

The child of a daily wage labourer from Tripura, two-year-old Roona Begum is suffering from hydrocephalus, a rare disorder that has caused her head to swell to an unprecedented 94 cm.

She was admitted to Gurgaon’s Fortis Memorial Research Institute here in April this year at the age of 18 months, where she underwent multiple complex procedures to get her head circumference reduced to 58 cm.

“The five surgeries we performed earlier have not only helped the child survive a potentially fatal condition, but also enabled her to attain improved nutritional status and vitals. She has gained weight, is showing better neck control and is even making noises,” surgeon and director of neurosurgery in the hospital, Sandeep Vaishya, said.

Elaborating on the likely follow-up surgery next week, Vaishya said: “This will be the first step in the next round of treatment for the child. We are monitoring her condition and will proceed with the surgery once we get a go-ahead from her attending paediatrician.”

Fortis Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Fortis Healthcare Limited, continues to oversee the treatment of the child.

Source: Times of India

Indian doctors discharge baby with swollen head

Doctors on 2nd August discharged a one-year-old Indian baby named Roona Begum who underwent several surgeries to correct a rare disorder that caused baby’s head to nearly double in size, a neurosurgeon told AFP.

Roona Begum endured several surgical procedures at a hospital near New Delhi in which doctors notify drain fluid from the baby’s head and conducts a life-saving operation and dramatically reduce the size of the skull.

“Roona’s health has improved significantly and she is fit to travel,” neurosurgeon Sandeep Vaishya said.

Roona was born with hydrocephalus, a potentially fatal condition that causes cerebrospinal fluid to build up on the brain.

Before Surgery

This condition makes the baby’s head to swell to a circumference of 94 centimeters (37 inches), putting pressure on the brain and which is impossible for the baby to sit upright or crawl.

After many surgeries and procedures the baby’s skull shrank to 58 centimeters conducted between April and July at the hospital run by the private Fortis Healthcare group.

Vaishya, who heads the hospital’s neurosurgery unit, said he expected the baby’s head to shrink further after conducting a final surgery in about six months’ time.

After Surgery

“When she came here, she was almost immobile. Now, she is moving her head from side to side easily, it shows that her neck muscles are already getting stronger,” he said.

“The next big step will be for her to sit up.”Neurologically as well the baby shows several signs of improvement. She can see better, her limb movements are much better,” he added.

Roona’s parents were too poor to pay for treatment, but publication of pictures taken by an AFP photographer at their home in the remote northeastern state of Tripura prompted the hospital to offer to treat the baby for free.

The photographs also triggered an outpouring of support worldwide with prospective donors contacting AFP and other news organizations, enquiring how they could contribute to a fund for her treatment.